Librarian Terminator Mech - List Evolution (Part 2)

See here for Part 1. The list I came up with is reprinted here;

Libby Termi Mech (1500) 
Librarian - null zone, gate of infinity 100
10 Terminators - 2 cyclone, 1 chainfist 465
Dreadnought - multi-melta, heavy flamer 115
Dreadnought - assault cannon, missile launcher 125
2 x 10 Tactical Marines - melta, combi-melta, missile launcher, rhino 220
3 x Predator - autocannon, heavy bolters 255

I played three games with the Libby Termi Mech list. Once against mech guard, once against Necrons, and once against Tau. The list seems to be pretty robust, because in none of the games I played did it end up getting smashed. I won, lost and drew one game each.

Rather that go into the individual games, I'll just tell you my first impression of the units within the list.

The Librarian was pretty much a waste of points. Null Zone is very situational (I used it once against a Tau shield drone) and apparently Gate of Infinity is too. Every time I saw an opportunity to use it I ended up chickening out because it was just too dangerous. Try deep striking 10 Terminators in front of a Leman Russ Exterminator! That's five plasma cannons of scary AP2. It did let me slaughter a unit of Tau Broadsides but my opponent was unlucky with his positioning - and shooting! He just didn't add anything to the Terminator squad. And he's not very good in close combat.

The 10 Terminators were good. They were robust; good shooting and able to threaten in close combat when required. The cyclone missile launchers were great against Necron Destroyers and Valkyries. Terminators do take their fare share of fire and were often down to only a couple left by the end of the game. I need to move them foward and play them more aggressively.

The Dreadnaughts were good but not fantastic. Having to move them forward on turn 1 really reduces my firepower in that vital first salvo. I rarely got to use the power fists, and in close combat I usually miss with everything anyway. It was nice to be able to threaten a monolith with Strength 10 though.

Half the time the tactical marine models didn't hit the table top, as they stayed snug and warm in their protective Rhino. I didn't get to use their meltas much because I was holding them back, safe out of trouble, to shoot missiles at the enemy. Getting out of the transport didn't really help at any point. Thats why my 40k motto is "stay in the rhino".

The Predator Destructors were good, but by no means overpowered. They were hard kill but not overly so. They did a good enough job suppressing vehicles and killing a few models consistently. God if only heavy bolters were still defensive weapons. Here's hoping for that in 6th edition ;)

So I wanted to make some changes, and thats when I had the thought - put Lysander in with the terminator unit. Lysander has some great rules. Eternal Warrior plus storm shield means that he can always be used to absorb a low-AP shot that comes towards the unit - this is the bane of shooty Terminators. Lysander's Bolter Drill rule goes nicely with the Terminator's storm bolter, although this is only a minor consideration. Of course, finding the extra 100 points for the tough guy is going to require me to make some major changes to the list.

Lysander Termi Mech (1500)
Lysander 200
5 Terminators - 1 cyclone, 1 chainfist 235
2 x Dreadnought - 2 twin-linked autocannons 250
2 x 10 Tactical Marines - flamer, multi-melta, rhino, dozer blade 420
2 x Land Speeder - multi-melta, heavy flamer 140
3 x Predator - autocannon, heavy bolters 255

The only space I could see to squeeze out the extra 100 points I needed was the large Terminator squad.  Lysander will help the smaller squad stay survivable, and the points freed allowed me to purchase some much needed mobile melta in the form of 2 Land Speeders. I just got two in the mail, both unassembled, for a great price. They were easier to build than I had been led to believe by the internet, although I did need to get the rubber bands out to hold it in the correct shape whilst drying. Anyway I am looking forward to using them, they might be awesome!

I bit the bullet and changed the dreads to the Rifleman pattern that is so popular these days - two twin-linked autocannons. This complements the Predators nicely. I am unsure if I would be better off leaving a close combat weapon on one of the Dreads, so that it can provide close combat support in the the back field. At the moment I am going to see how they go with just the plain Strength 6 attacks.

So I need to decide how I am going to convert the dreads. Probably using Imperial Guard heavy weapon autocannons is the easiest solution. I already have 1 - just need another seven!

The final change I made was to the Tactical Marines, switching them to flamer/multi-melta. Not only does this save points whilst keeping the melta threat, it allows the Tactical squad to do something useful on the field. Their role will be to move forward on turn 1 and pop smoke. They will then be hindering my opponents progress through the middle of the battlefield, with a 12" thread range for the multi-melta's double dice. This helps keep the heat away from my gunline backfield.